By Levi Shapiro

Yosi Glick wants to save your marriage. Using technology developed by the Israeli military, his company Jinni solves the quintessential couple's conundrum- picking a movie that both husband and wife can enjoy.

"When my wife asks me to rent a movie, I get nervous. I have no idea what she will think is good or her mood that day." So Yosi developed a semantic search tool that lets users search like they think. It creates your "entertainment personality," based on 50 different categories (including mood, time available, plot summary, reviews, etc). This can be matched with the entertainment personality of your spouse so that the only thing left to fight about is who makes the popcorn.

In March, cNet selected Jinni over more established services- like Netflix, IMDB, Flixter and Rotten Tomatoes - as the number one video recommendation engine. The US beta will be launched in mid-August but 200 of you can get an invitation to the private beta here.

Screenshot of QuickFlix PHOTO: Courtesy

Jinni is one of many promising early-stage companies funded and nurtured by the Startup Factory. This is a collection of Israeli and Jewish technology investors who provide critical investment and expertise to high-potential, early stage Israeli start-ups. Members such as Carmel Vernia (Chief Scientist from 2000-2002 in the government of Israel's Ministry of Industry & Trade) and Dr. Orna Berry (outgoing Chief Scientist and Director of the Industrial R&D Administration in the Ministry of Industry & Trade) take a hands-on role with Jinni. Yosi says "I have great respect for Startup Factory. They help Jinni and they help Israel."

Jinni is building revenues from online video distributors, who share a portion of the transactional and advertising revenues. One notable customer is QuickFlix, Australia's largest online DVD rental service. The other revenue stream comes from licensing the technology to pay TV providers, such as cable operators, for TV based services like Video On Demand and Electronic Programming Guide.

As for saving marriages, no direct revenue streams there, but you have to admit, it is a great perk. Now, if it could only be applied to solving other relationship issues.

How it works:

By Levi Shapiro

While no one in Hollywood would ever admit to reading the Bible, most in the TV industry are likely to wholeheartedly agree with Ecclesiastes 1:9, "what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." Decades before American Idol, Law & Order or The Hills dominated the airwaves, TV was awash in talent shows, procedurals and catfights.

To find a really fresh format, DigiTALE Productions and Disney have reached back to a format that predates even television - playing with dolls. Disney and DigiTALE Productions would like you to say "Bobdammit" to a new episodic web series, THE STONES. Think Barbie meets American Pie.

According to Creator and Executive Producer David Greenberg (who sold the series to Disney), even with dolls, telling a great story requires substantial resources. "I have been working on this for 2.5 years. There is an endless list of people, literally several hundred, who contributed."

Some of those contributors include writer Blyth Rove (Grey's Anatomy), Director and Videographer Benjamin Flaherty (most recently worked for director Julian Schnabel) and Producer Amy Nederlander (nominated for five Tony Awards).

After moving to the US from Israel fifteen years ago, David Greenberg recalls needing to buy a present for his friend's five-year-old daughter. "She took me right to the Barbie section. When she started explaining it, I was absolutely blown away."

The series examines socially divisive issues like religion, sex, drugs and immigration, through the eyes of these dolls, all within a story arc of 3-4 minutes. "The future of television is platform-agnostic. And like everything else in this digitally integrated universe, the idea is to create merchandising opportunities." The dolls were designed exclusively for the series. "Frankly," says David, "we would love to sell lots of dolls."

While studios have long benefited from ancillary revenue streams, independent content creators like David Greenberg are beginning to recognize there really is something new under the sun- retaining merchandising rights. Maybe a family of dysfunctional dolls can save Hollywood.